One of my many, many, many Coffee Waves Lattes.

A carrot, an egg, and a cup of coffee…You will never look at a cup of coffee the same way again.
A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up, She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen.. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil.

In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word.
In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl.. Turning to her daughter, she asked, “Tell me what you see.”

“Carrots, eggs, and coffee,” she replied.

Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg.

Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee.

The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, “What does it mean, mother?”

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however.. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

“Which are you?” she asked her daughter. “When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?”

Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?

Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?

Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you when the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate yourself to another level?

How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

The Path is Finally Clear

I’ve been alluding to the changes and streamlining taking place in my company’s structure lately – all great things. Much needed and long overdue. Beyond the necessity of them just for the sake of time or more money, the real purpose has been to make room for my next big thing.

Which begins today. {insert giant smiley face}

About 11 years ago I met a 19 year old genius, girl-wonder, Warren Buffet in-training,  named Kendra Kinnison. Those monikers don’t even do her justice, really. She was a CPA and was finishing her MBA – the youngest one ever from Texas A&M Corpus Christi, in fact. She helped me launch Crossover Consulting. My family moved to California and we lost touch for a while, but we reconnected at a Social Media Club Meeting a little over a year ago and found that we still had a lot in common – a love of technology, a heart for people, and a passion to see the two really click together.

We also had a shared Christian faith (although from different traditions, I’m a Presbymergent and she’s not) and found that we shared some similar stories of how it had sustained us through the worst trials imaginable, bringing us – no, driving us -  to an epiphany. An awakening awareness that while we were both savvy businesswomen and had profound training and experience, financial success, professional notoriety and public respect…

Without the fundamental platform of God’s love, the guiding compass of His Grace and His 2000 year old instruction manual, there couldn’t possibly be the deep satisfaction or fullness of life that we’re all seeking.

We knew that our stories couldn’t be unique. We knew many friends and colleagues struggling with the same issues we did. Issues of health, money, relationships and career. Kendra was the first to fit the pieces together and realize there was a message to be shared. She was writing and blogging her experiences for almost two years before the lunch that decided our business path and plan.

Realizing that there are no coincidences in life, we formed a business partnership and began to brainstorm and fit pieces together, asking the question, “what’s the practical applications for this?”

We took Kendra’s blog, Imagine More, and we blew it up. We expanded her tech toolbox to an entire resource library and I came on as the Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder of Imagine More Ventures, LLC.

This is important.

We knew that what we wanted was not another self-help book. Not another pray harder, faith-alone fad, or a regurgitation of the same old business mantras of  smarter-not-harder-find-your-bliss-center-your-chi-balance-your-world, and the myriad variations thereof. Been there. Done that. Bought the shirt, book, CD, DVD and poster. None of it sticks because it tried to be the one key that fits all the locks.

We knew the real one key to it all was the uniqueness of how we’re all designed. There is no one size fits all. We are all fearfully and wonderfully made – differently. Very differently. Like Kendra and I. And you.

So, we created the Imagine More University. A series of training courses designed by two amazing public speakers and trainers to be exactly what you need to design your own plan for success with practical, bite-sized daily lessons, quick video tutorials and weekly live coaching to bring it all together and keep you moving forward.

We think of ourselves as tour guides. You choose the itinerary. We’ll help interpret the map, navigate pitfalls and show you the wonders of your journey. We’re on the journey, too. It’s pretty amazing.

Practically speaking, we’ve created two complimentary courses. YouSchool and GeekSchool. Two tracks of learning that can be taken separately, but are better together.

YouSchool is Kendra’s area of expertise. Big picture dreaming, broken down into manageable actions, with accountability. It’s a guide to finding, finessing and then making your dreams reality. Your dreams – not someone else’s definition of success, or wealth or happiness. It’s the ultimate lifestyle redesign.

GeekSchool is my baby. For more than 15 years, I’ve heard people say that they can’t get a handle on the technology that’s out there. GeekSchool is the answer to that. It’s a refined, systematic approach to incorporating technology into your business and personal world, buying you back the time you need to really live. You’ll learn how to tame your inbox, master your task lists, organize your communication – and that’s just the first month. In a 12-week span of time, you’ll understand and, more importantly, use technology as a tool and to it’s fullest potential.

Ready to Imagine More too? Start Here. Join the Journey.

I was pregnant with Cathryn when I designed my first website. She turned 15 a couple of months ago, so that tells you how long I’ve been doing this. Actually, I’ve always had “Degree Envy” of my husband, who actually has a degree in Commercial & Graphic Art (and the accompanying student loans still outstanding, I might add.)

Design is subjective. Programming is not subjective, and I’m a pretty dang good hack at that, if I do say so myself. I taught myself C+ and Basic back in the 80’s and 90’s and now I program in PHP/mySQL, XML, SOAP and Javascript. I wrote scripts for Sabre and Apollo and PARS and most of those scripts would still work if those systems were still around. Programming makes more sense to me than design because compiling a script doesn’t rely on whether or not that color is on the opposite side of the color wheel, and makes people buy more things on the weekends. It either works – or it doesn’t.

Design, on the other hand is all squishy and emotional. Which I like… occasionally. Like today. I had to rewire the old virtual office again, making way for my new labor of love Imagine More (more on that next week, I promise.)

Keeping my Mastermind Goals as my level, I looked realistically at my many websites, services and products. Too many to be effective – but I already knew that. So – I took a deep breath and starting to slash, consolidate and shutter. And, like the Hydra that it had become, the more I battled, the more heads it grew.

I ended up with Orchard Bay Group – as the main business card website for the sites that were left which consisted of Marker9Design.com for all my non-travel business, Crossover Consulting as the main functional site for travel industry speaking and consulting, TravelWebMarketing for the training classes to teach travel pros to market their business, WP-TravelDesign.com for travel websites designed in WordPress and WP-TravelTheme.com for Premium and Free WordPress travel themes for sale.

And I shuttered three major sites. Port Aransas Web and Padre Island Web were both locally targeted niche sites and I loved them – but really, Marker9Design is a better portfolio of what I do in the non-travel realm. GemTravelSites was the main travel website brand for close to 9 years, but since all my design work is in WordPress it wasn’t practical to keep it out there. All support and legacy sites will be supported through WP-TravelDesign.com

And it’s my new favorite site of all time. Its the first site I’ve done just for me. Just because I loved the concept I had for it – a vintage travel theme, with old passport pages, and stamps, making me think of times when steam trains and gloves were the norm. I loved the photo I chose for the “about” page – it looks like me when I caught my travel bug. I love the look of the palm trees from the 60’s, reminding me of my Southern California in the 70’s. All my favorite travel eras captured. I remember when I loved to travel. I flew a lot. I took the train. It was elegant – and this site makes me remember it. And I designed it. And I programmed it. And both sides of my brain rejoiced.

A local church here in town is having a huge promotional event this weekend, and is giving away millions of dollars of stuff to lure draw people in this Easter weekend. I have strong feelings about the subject and despite those strong feelings I’ve tried to live and let live, so to speak. I get the premise, but I think it’s misguided and sends the total wrong message that pandering to people’s base need to covet things is a good marketing hook. But I digress. I really don’t want to hate on the church so let’s just set those aside for a moment and stay on topic.

Which is this: Social Marketing is just that. Social. It’s not you with a bullhorn blasting me from no less than 5 accounts on Facebook and a couple on Twitter, with the same redundant message. It isn’t so, well, OBNOXIOUS and in-your-face. I’m younger than you, so it’s not a “you don’t get my generation” thing.

Social Media allows a connection and a conversation in an era when we’ve forgotten how to have a conversation in our zest and zeal to get our own message out louder and prouder and faster than our competition.

I’m friends with a fair amount of people on Facebook – about 600, and about 1000 on Twitter. I’m sure there are lots of ways to “do” social media, but my way works for me. I know, either personally (as old friends, or family), by reputation (such as political figures and candidates), or by association (such as national business contacts or groups) or by referral and I do turn down requests. I’m not a friend collector. I follow less people on Twitter than follow me and I check every profile. It’s like sorting through the the junk mail at the mailbox and tossing the sales pitches in the trash before you come in the door. Once it’s in the house it’s clutter. My life is cluttered enough.

The gray area that I struggle with is the extra “noise” that comes from Facebook Fan Pages. I am amused at the pages of the Youth Group Kids – the ones they create and the ones they join, with long pithy sentences like,

“I hate it when i’m taking a drink and all the ice attacks my face”

That’s hilarious to me. Just joining the group adds that to your wall, and I get a pretty decent chuckle from some of them.Especially when the kids join 8-10 in a row and daisy chain the messages. No harm, no foul. Not generally the groups I join, but they serve their purpose.

I join some Fan pages out of solidarity or support. For example, I have no need to read a bridal magazine, but my friend owns it so I support her. I love to see local businesses succeed, even if they’re not in my direct line of necessity. I tend to pass on suggestions, good or bad and I’m not particularly shy – but believe it or not, I am discriminate.I’m friends with 600 people – It would be social suicide if I just  just re-blasted everything I get from everyone every day.

I joined a Fan Page of the previously mentioned church because I knew, through school and volleyball, one of the Campus Pastors – his wife, really. I like them, respect their energy (if not always their message) and sense of humor – always a plus for me. Over the past couple of years, I’ve noticed a trend – as a social media marketer, not as a commentary on them personally – toward announcements, duplicated on Twitter and Facebook that started to bug me and last night I really had enough after endless peppering of messages coming from everywhere. Like those flying black things in the movie Pitch Black picking at me.

Again, I digress. Professionally speaking, here are my issues. Maybe you do some of them too. If so, knock it off. We’re all trying to figure this out, but social skills are still the same, and still required for it to work. If you’re in the Corpus Christi area, luckily there’s help – Join the Corpus Christi Social Media Club and contribute and learn from some of the ones that get it. If you’re not in the Coastal Bend, find your local chapter.

• Duplication. Turn off the Twitter to Facebook App. Stop. They are not the same audience. If they are, you’re doing it wrong. Facebook is friends. Twitter is followers.
• Frequency: Same message, repeated several times within an hour, sometimes with photos (of tired people? Seriously?) to basically just spam it back out. I saw it the first time. I saw it when your wife reposted it. I saw it the second time on your personal wall. I SAW IT, OK?
  
• Ending the “teaser” tweet/wall post with “stay tuned” – This is not your television show. I’m not tuning in to you. This, above all else, I think illustrates social media gone off the rails. TALK TO ME. I’ll talk back. That’s engaging.
• Not answering comments. If you ask a question, and I take the time to answer it, and then an hour later you post the same question – that’s rude. If it’s rhetorical, say so. If you’re just asking to promote your blog posting, without caring about the answer, that’s spammy.

Here’s the takeaway: Stop skywriting. You can’t hear anyone up there. If people hit the “like” button, that’s not conversation, that’s just people down on the beach waving at the plane. Don’t use that as a measurement of success. Get out of the plane and start talking WITH people instead of AT people.

Just calm down. Please. Back away from the “send” or “post” button for a bit. You’ll be glad you did. We all will.

Soon you’ll hear me blather on about some new mis-adventures… er…  adventures… er ventures that I’m embarking on in business. It’s a little scary – outside my comfort zone of the travel industry. I’m excited. Very excited. More on the specifics when they’re nailed down.

In the meantime…

Back in January my Mastermind Group, which is like a personal board of directors, helped me realize that I needed to jettison some of the more unprofitable aspects of my business. After a lot of soul searching, and a ton of reading Tim Ferriss’ “The Four Hour Workweek” again… and again… and the E-Myth series of books, I decided those smart, talented, opinionated people were right. I wasn’t happy… but they were right. I was essentially a professional volunteer and after committing to dig out of my own fiscal nightmare, I really needed to heed their advice and then – and here’s the hard part – do something about it.

I started with a lot of thought about what I wanted to do when I grew up. I love design and the hosting is stable and profitable so all the web design and web hosting remains intact – nothing changes, except for some great new enhancements to service and training, which have been stalled and choked by the bottleneck of projects that I’ve been afraid of facing.

Crossover Consulting was founded as an outsourced IT department for home based, small and medium sized businesses that couldn’t afford their own staff-person back in 1999. The challenge has become that it’s time consuming and doesn’t really have a great return on the time investment. So, I jettisoned all but one client. She’s local and she’s a pleasure to work with. She keeps me busy about 10 hours a week, but it also keeps me sharp in the skills department. I was on the fence about it, but Kendra Kinnison’s sage business advice in this blog post about a Results Oriented Work Environment tipped the scales and she made the cut.

Further analysis brought out that the way that the projects were aligned and shared resources weren’t quite right either, so all of the projects that were travel related now come under the umbrella of Crossover Consulting and I formed two new entities to better position the non-travel portions. This way the tech support, billing and training for all things travel is supported through Crossover Consulting, and everything else administrative comes under the new brand:  The Orchard Bay Group.

For design projects that were non-travel, I’ve always used Port Aransas Web or Padre Island Web as a point of sales and service – but new in 2010 I started to see an increase of more than 200% of non-travel, non-local business – so I decided on a name and brand for the bulk of my design endeavors – Marker9 Design. Why Marker 9? Simple: I live at Beach Marker 9 in Port Aransas, Texas. Plus, it just sounds edgy and cool. And I am all about edgy and cool. Just ask me.

Summing it all up:

1. Orchard Bay Group – the “holding company” for everything. Serves as the billing and customer service entity for all non-travel business.
2. Crossover Consulting – Speaking, Writing and Training on Website Design, Marketing and Social Media. The parent entity for GemTravelSites.com, WP-TravelDesign.com, TravelWebServer.com and TravelWebMarketing.com – which remain intact, sleeker and more focused – and all travel-related.
3. Marker9Design – WordPress Design, Themes and Customizations plus design for logos, merchandise and print.

Each of the sites continue to run independently of one another, but with the realignment I’ll shave more than 20 hours off administrative tasks each week, and I’ve got my eye on an amazing company to handle some of the other marketing-related tasks as well. It may seem counter-productive to actually add more entities, but trust me – it makes sense in light of what’s around the bend. Having all the travel-related projects separated from the non-travel ones will allow for growth and staff to concentrate on the niche they serve.

It’s like the Rubix Cube just flipped into place. Oh – and one more thing. I decided to add a new phone number for the Orchard Bay Group – which is an homage to where my Grandma and I spent almost every waking free moment of most summers growing up. When I went to get a new number from RingCentral, the number that I found was, in fact, her actual phone number – just toll-free.

Coincidence? Call me at 877-337-1538 and we’ll talk about it.

Image by rusewcrazy via Flickr

Washington, DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. The man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx. two thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.

4 minutes later:

The violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

6 minutes:

A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

10 minutes:

A 3-year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced their children to move on quickly.

45 minutes:

The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.

1 hour:

He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

This is a true story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people’s priorities.

The questions raised:

• *In a common place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?
• *Do we stop to appreciate it?
• *Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made…

How many other things are we missing?

This was forwarded to my by my friend Dawna this morning – and it hit me where I live today and I felt it bore repeating.  At the moment, I’m watching my youngest daughter curled up next to me, sleeping off a fever with her puppy at her feet. When did she get so long and lanky? My oldest leaves for college in less than 5 months.

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Cancer Sucks.

It’s a battle-cry of the mighty group of committed volunteers I work with on the  Relay for Life committee but it was also for the better part of five years the thought that woke me in the morning, and knocked me out at night.

Statistically, it’s probable that you know someone with, or affected by cancer. There’s no Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon here – you probably have one degree at best. This disease is no respecter of race, age, maritial status or parentage. It kills mommies, babies and sweet old ladies that have never done anything to anyone.

My degree of separation is  one. I have never been diagnosed,  but I have lost more loved ones to this disease than anyone should have to bear. No daughter should have to know what a condom catheter is or why her Dad needs it and how to put it on because the nurse is busy. No granddaughter should have to clean feces off their granny’s hiney while they both wish they were anywhere but there, mortified at the circumstances.  I’m not whining about my plight, mind you, I’m saying that something needs to be done.

I believe that Relay for Life is a beacon of hope for those touched by this disease, whether they are fighting back, a survivor, a caregiver or simply a friend or loved one.

The first year that I attended Relay for Life in April 2007  I was a little numb – and I don’t remember much except my own tears and a lot of purple. My Daddy, Michael Honiker, died on June 9, 2006. His autopsy showed that he was cancer-free after a month of in-hospital chemo, but his heart was weakened and he suffered a massive heart attack the night before he was to be released to go home.

The same day my Daddy died, my Grandmother, Gloria Goss, was diagnosed with throat cancer. She smoked for 55 years and quit the day she learned she had Emphysema in 2001. She quite literally beat the odds at least five times – it was amazing. Her first diagnosis in 2001 with lung cancer came only by the grace of God. She went to the hospital for a cardiac stress test, was told she needed a triple bypass, left with stents because her emphysema wouldn’t allow anesthesia – and here’s the amazing part – her cardiologist caught the tiniest speck on her lung and sent her to an oncologist.  She had 2/3 of her left lung removed as an outpatient at a doctor’s office in Fullerton. He’s only one of 3 that can perform that surgery laproscopically.  She beat lung cancer – a near impossible feat – and learned to live with reduced lung function, which was hard since she lived at 5000 feet altitude in Lake Arrowhead. In 2003 when we moved back to Padre Island, she came with us and loved everything – but the humidity. When she was diagnosed with throat cancer, Ken and I became her primary caregivers – commuting back and forth to California, passing each other like ships in the night, seeing each other for only 6 days out of 7 months, taking turns handling her affairs and needs – and, most importantly, loving her through it all. She passed away at home October 17, 2007.

I relay for them. I relay to raise money for the American Cancer Society research so that the new treatments aren’t toxic enough to kill the patient along with the cancer. My Daddy won the cancer battle, but lost his fight for life. cancer (I will not capitalize the word) will not win the war if I can help it.

I relay for my  Grandmother, who had wonderful care at Loma Linda University Medical Center. They are on the cutting edge of proton radiation therapy and it gave her added years with us – it’s less invasive, more specific and carries less side effects.  We were blessed with the gift of time because of it. Time to go to the beach, have shrimp boils, enjoy sunsets and laugh. We laughed a lot. More funding would make that kind of therapy available to more people than just those close to MD Anderson, Loma Linda, John’s Hopkins and Stanford. We were blessed to be close to Loma Linda, but most are not.

For my Stepdad, Mark Connolly, who died of liver cancer at just 51 years old – his diagnosis came too late for any treatment and he suffered more than he needed to. For his mother, my grandma, Merle Connolly, who was a tireless devoted volunteer for the Oakland Children’s Hospital, and was one of the most wonderful selfless women I ever knew. She was the first of my many loved ones to go.

And I relay for those still fighting back: I relay for Ken’s aunt June, and his mother Pat – and their ongoing battle with breast cancer. For my friend Carrie’s son Troy. I relay for our friend Mike Jones, now a survivor.

I can’t save the ones that are gone. And so, mostly, I relay for my daughters. I relay because there is a history of this disease, in almost every part of the body, in our genetic makeup. I relay to raise money so they can benefit from research and treatments in the future and for education and awareness now. cancer is preventable in many cases with the right information and action.

This is too important to leave to someone else. I have to do my part. And so, I relay. I join with others with similar stories and struggles and together we offer each other comfort, encouragement, information – and  hope. Hope that one day this disease will be gone from the face of God’s planet and that the small part we played helped bring that about. I believe it’s possible.

Has cancer touched your life? Tell me your story in the comments and visit cancer.org for resources for patients, caregivers and survivors – the money we raise at Relay events make these services available – and they’re awesome – rides to appointments, resources for wigs, mammograms  – whatever the need it, chances are there’s a free resource. You can make a donation here if you want. If you would like to join in your local Relay for Life event (there are thousands nationwide), visit RelayforLife.org and search for the closest one to you. If you’re in Port Aransas, TX and want to hang out with the coolest committee that bleeds purple, visit relayporta.com and get signed up. Or email me!

I was invited to be part of a Mastermind Group with some smart, motivated, successful folks that I admire very much.  The purpose is to have a group of people that serve like your own personal board of directors – helping you along your personal and professional journey and holding you accountable for the goals that you set.

Our first meeting was very productive and we set some rules for our group and some goals for each of our members. One of the rules of the group is keeping it all “inside” the group, so while I won’t go into great detail I will say that this month shone a huge great spotlight on one of the biggest hindrances to my own success – not accounting for the unexpected.

I know how long it takes for me to do any given task – I’ve done this job a  long time.  I know my resources and I know the flow of my day – and even my month. I know, for example, that I function best in the mid-morning when I’m doing administrative tasks. I know that mid-day is my best training time (I’m quite verbal and sharp!) and I know that I’m virtually useless from 3-7pm. If I’m doing something creative I am a programming rockstar from 8pm-3am. Yep – all nighters, with caffeine, no people to distract and a boatload of cheesy infomercials.

My goals with the Mastermind Group this month were specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-sensitive.

And I missed EVERY single one of them.

Of course, they don’t know my business all that well and I could have bluffed my way through it. But that’s not the point. The point is to learn something about myself and how to overcome the challenges I face – to make myself a better leader and my company more successful. So, rather than sweep it under the carpet I spent some time this afternoon going back over my day-by-day and discovered that like with most budgets, whether time or money, it’s the unexpected things that killed me.

Here’s the takeaway. Rather than look at these as an excuse, or even a reason, I drilled through each of the unexpected items to see if I could have planned for them (nope, that’s why they’re called “unexpected”) or how I could have managed them better. In the end, I learned that while my goals were realistic – my definition of reality needed to change. The reality is that I do have a couple of diverse clients that need me to fix their computers (which I don’t do, as a general rule) and I need to build in some possibility of those things happening. I also need to re-visit priorities more often and not just do the thing that presents itself.

So far, an excellent exercise in self-analysis. A little course correction and I’m back on track.